FREE Guitar fretboard notes chart for beginners, showing all neck notes with 12 & 24 frets .
- An excerpt from Tiff Bryan’s popular guitar music theory book ‘Easy Peasy Guitar Music Theory: For Beginners‘
- Learn all the guitar fretboard notes including natural notes + accidental sharps (#) and flats (♭)
- FREE printable guitar fretboard diagram PDF
Learning the notes on the fretboard is crucial for guitar players of all levels.
You can’t get away from the fact that there’s only so much you can learn on guitar before you hit a brick wall if you try to dodge this important part of guitar music theory.
So just for you, we have not just one – but three guitar fretboard diagrams coming right up.
The Guitar Fretboard Diagram: All Notes
Here’s a diagram of the guitar fretboard up to fret twelve showing all natural notes, plus the sharp (#) and flat (♭) notes:
The brightly coloured notes (A-B-C-D-E-F-G) are called natural notes, and the black notes are sharp(#) and flat (♭) notes.
It probably hasn’t slipped your attention that the black notes have two names, and it’s for this reason they’re also called enharmonic notes.
In music, ‘enharmonic’ means a note with two names that sound the same.
Take the F#/Gb note on the 2nd fret of the lower E string, for example. Because the note is a semitone higher (sharper) in pitch from the F note, it is turned into an F#; however, because it is also technically one semitone lower (flatter) than the G note, it is also called a Gb.
(Scroll down for your free PDF download)
The Guitar Fretboard Diagram: Natural Notes
Below is a diagram of the guitar fretboard notes showing all natural notes only.
If you’re a beginner guitar player wondering how to learn the notes on the fretboard, start by breaking it down.
Digest the natural notes before tackling the sharp and flat in-between notes.
The Guitar Fretboard Diagram: All Notes Over 24 Frets
Below is a chart showing the guitar fretboard diagram over 24 frets. The natural notes and sharp or flat notes are illustrated. The octave notes are highlighted on the open, 12th and 24th frets.
(Scroll down for your free PDF download)
Pro Tip
Don't let the 24-fret diagram frazzle your brain - all of the notes from fret 12-24 are simply the same as the notes between the open string and fret 12. They are simply an octave higher in pitch.
Summing It Up
There you have it. Not one, but three fretboard diagrams showing you all the notes on the guitar. It’s easy to feel disheartened and overwhelmed when you first look at a fretboard chart but don’t worry too much.
Break it down and start by memorising the notes on the lower 6th string to start with.
To get a more in-depth understanding of the best way to go about memorizing the notes on the fretboard, read our how to learn the fretboard guide here.
